雪崩预警

Multi-agency forecasting teamrelieson CSI stations to provide venue-specific data
Weather support vital for Olympic Winter Games

 When Salt Lake City opens its doors to the world forthe2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games this winter,adverseweather will be more than a casual concern. Not only couldweatherdelay sporting events, it could also leave surface streetsandhighways encrusted in snow and ice, impeding venue accessforathletes, Olympic officials, international media and spectators.

A station stands at Soldier Hollow Stadium,venuefor the biathlon, all cross-country skiing events and thenordiccombined.

The effects of snowstorms and other large-scale weathersystemsare widespread throughout northern Utah.  Hazardouswinterweather including lake-effect snowstorms, ice fog, gap winds,downslope wind-storms and low visibility over mountain passes areoftenrelated to local terrain features, the Wasatch Mountains andGreatSalt Lake being the most prominent.  As such, planningfor aweather support system began in 1995, shortly aftertheInternational Olympic Committee designated Salt Lake City ashostfor the2002 Games.

Managed by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC), thesystem,which includes Campbell Scientific automated weatherstations,relies upon meteorologists from the public, private, andacademicsectors of the atmospheric science community.  Itspans thenetwork of indoor Olympic venues along the Wasatch Front(themetropolitan corridor west of the Wasatch Mountains that ishome tothe bulk of Utah's population and runs 110 km at~1,300 minelevation) and outdoor venues on the eastern flanks of theWasatchMountains which range in elevation from 2,826 m (9,270 ft)at thetop of the men's downhill course, to 1,670 m (5,480 ft) atthecross country/biathlon course.  The variations in weatherandclimate from venue to venue are tremendous.

Red triangles mark the location of 278weatherstations (most of which are Campbell Scientificequipment)throughout northern Utah.

Forecasting responsibilities are like-wise varied. Olympicweather support has traditionally been led by the hostcountry'sprimary weather agency.  But weather forecastingduties forthe 2002Winter Games will be shared by forecasters fromtheNational Weather Service and KSL, Salt Lake City'sNationalBroadcasting Company (NBC) affiliate. Individuals fromotheragencies, including the NWS Salt Lake Weather Forecast Office,theNOAA Cooperative Institute for Regional Prediction (CIRP), theNWSWestern Region Scientific Services Division, the AviationSecurityOperations Center (ASOC) at Hill Air Force Base, and theUtahAvalanche Center will pro-vide data, resources and forecastsforspecific Olympic-related applications.  The SLOCweathersupport group also includes weather volunteers,includingundergraduate and graduate students from the University ofUtah andother local residents.  Close coordination of allgroupsinvolved, therefore, will be vital if consistent forecastsare tobe ensured.

The KSL team consists of 13 private-sector meteorologistschargedwith pro-viding detailed microscale weather fore-casts forthe fiveoutdoor venues. Assembled by Mark Eubank, KSL chiefmeteorologist,the venue forecast team has extensive experienceforecastingnorthern Utah weather.  Venue forecaster swillhave on-siteaccess to the latest weather observations, graphics,and modeldata.  Weather forecasts will be issued three timesdaily withupdates issued as needed.  Forecast fields include:sky cover,precipitation type and amount, air temperature, winddirection, windspeed, wind gusts, wind chill, visibility,humidity, and snowtemperature.  A joint weather phoneconference will becon-ducted each morning between forecasters atthe venues, the NWSSalt Lake field office, and the ASOC. Official manual weatherobservations will be started one hourbefore each outdoor eventbegins and will continue at 15-minuteintervals throughout theevent.

Four PCs at the NWS office in Salt Lake CityusePC208W to call remote stations.

Since documentation of weather conditions prior to theOlympicswas required for planning (and during the Games foroperations)weather equipment was installed at venues and other keylocationsin northern Utah beginning in 1996.Portable weatherstationsmanufactured by Campbell Scientific, Inc., that weredeployed bythe NWS Southern Region for the 1996 Atlanta SummerOlympic Games,were made available to the NWS Western Region afterthe summergames were completed.  Also during 1996, the NWSWesternRegion and the National Severe Storms Laboratory began aresearchproject in the vicinity of Salt Lake City to validate WSR-88Dradaralgorithms in regions of complex terrain. In support ofthatproject, weather equipment was deployed at eightlocations(fourwithin the Wasatch Front and four at Olympic venues).

Forecasting and weather-data recording in preparation forthe2002 Olympic Winter Games have allowed a unique partnershiptoevolve since 1996, with government, commercial, andresearchcommunities sharing weather information in northern Utahandthroughout the western United States.  Initially referredtoas the Utah Mesonet, the collection of data outside of Utah ledtoits redesignation as Meso West in January 2000.  Now,duringFebruary and March 2002, weather observations will beavailablefrom over 278locations in the northern Utah region.

Shooting Star Jump Station on the downhillcourse.

This article was derived from a manuscript submitted totheBulletin of the American Meteorological Society.  Thefulltext is available a thttp://www. met.utah.edu/olympics/